When the Moon Fell in Love with the Sun

Brendon and the guys had started working on their next album after Katelyn was well into her final spring quarter of college. Every time Brendon was at a brainstorming session he came home, without fail, annoyed and exhausted. Katelyn could tell that something was up, but whenever she offered to be Brendon's sound board, he refused to drag her into it.
"You have enough going on as it is, Kay. You don't need to hear about my petty drama." Brendon had come home upset again and Katelyn only wanted to help.
"Bren, you can't keep this bottled up. This has been going on since February. It's May now." The girl sat at the kitchen table, working on the final draft of a paper she had been writing. Graduation was the second week of June and she could hardly wait.
"Ryan and I are really butting heads creatively right now. He wants to play Retro inspired stuff and I want to do more new, pop alternative music. Neither of us is gonna back down, that's for sure."
Katelyn sent him a sympathetic look, suggesting that they needed some time away from brainstorming to just hang out as best friends.
"We always end up talking about music though!" Brendon threw his hands up in exasperation, slipping out of his shoes as soon as he got into the bedroom. Katelyn followed him, sitting on the bed and saying that she had to leave for practice soon. She had found a local orchestra to play with two nights a week, which was just what she needed.
"Please don't go. I could really use some time for us right now…" Brendon stood in front of the girl and pushed her so she was laying down, then crawled up onto the bed, hovering over her and gently kissing the nape of her neck. He breathed in the distinct smell of vanilla and time out in the sun, smiling to himself. Summer was in full swing and Brendon couldn't wait for Katelyn to be done with school so they could spend their time at the beach. He wanted to teach her to surf with such an ambition that it actually impressed the girl. Brendon was tenacious, she would give him that.
"I'll only be gone for two hours, Bren. At seven o'clock you'll have me all to yourself." Katelyn tried to hold back a moan, but he slid his hands under the material of her off the shoulder top, letting his fingers roam as he worked at the spot that was sure to elicit that sound he loved.
"Brendon." The girl gasped, tangling her fingers in his hair and urging him to continue, despite the fact that she had to leave sometime within the next twenty minutes if she wanted to make it to rehearsal on time. Then again, the orchestra was merely working on a Bach Orchestral Suite that she had played before… They wouldn't miss her if she sent a text to the conductor saying she had an appointment.
"Alright, alright. Just let me send a quick text so I can get out of rehearsal." Katelyn finally caved, pushing Brendon so that he rolled off of her and on to his back. She laughed as she grabbed her phone from the bedside table, watching him try to fix his now crazy hair.
Once she had finish texting the conductor, Katelyn turned her phone on silent and set it down, sending Brendon a heated glance.
"Leave your hair alone, it's sexy."
Brendon noticed the tone of her voice, which was low and lust filled, just the way he liked it.
"Oh yeah? I think you need to take your shorts off. You're sexy without them." When he saw how surprised she was by his forward statement, he smirked. Brendon had gained a lot of self confidence over the past few years, but it all started when he started talking to Katelyn, and he would always be grateful to her for that.
"Why don't you take them off yourself then?" Katelyn tried to play coy and it apparently worked, because Brendon had immediately moved towards her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling the girl into him.

Three o'clock in the morning was an unusual time for Katelyn to be awake when she didn't have a paper or a project due, but she was up. The girl, unable to sleep, had untangled herself from Brendon's sleeping form and was now sitting out on the balcony in the cool air with a bottle of water, thinking.
It amazed the girl how Brendon could get her to give up any plans she had previously to spend time with him. She ducked out of rehearsal, coffee with classmates, even a few study sessions just to be with the boy, well now he was a man, that she loved so much. He never verbally asked her to choose him over whatever she had to do, but he still managed to convince her not to leave.
"I need to quit letting him do that to me…" Katelyn shook her head, remembering how she used to spend all of her free hours with her girlfriends; getting pedicures, spending lazy Saturdays on the beach, and going out to lunch. Now she tried to spend as little time on campus in favor of Santa Monica. It was annoying to her friends from school when Katelyn always declined their offers to hang out or go somewhere.
It wasn't that she didn't want to do anything with them, she just would rather do something with Brendon instead. After being apart from him for such a long time, Katelyn figured that she was making up for lost time.
She was surprised that he didn't get sick of her, or that she didn't get sick of him for that matter. Whenever they were both in the apartment and weren't busy with something, Brendon spent his time sitting near the girl, playing with her hair, and just being in her general vicinity.
The fact that Brendon and Ryan were at odds was eating at Katelyn. They had been best friends for a pretty long time and to ruin that over music just wasn't worth it in her opinion. Bands come and go all the time, but friends like that would always be there. She knew that this was weighing heavily on Brendon and that he would go crazy if it wasn't resolved soon.

"How come you're out here and not in bed with me?" Brendon's deep, sleep-filled voice pulled Katelyn away from her thoughts and she turned to face him, biting back a smile. His hair was a mess and he was rubbing his eyes like a sleepy child, needless to say it was rather endearing.
"I couldn't sleep. Needed some air."
"You've been out here for a while." Brendon had felt her warmth leave his arms as well as the bed and it had made him restless, so he told her that.
"Yeah, lots to think about. Sorry I woke you up." She apologized as Brendon sat in the other patio chair and accepted the half empty water bottle that Katelyn offered him, taking a swig.
"Want to talk about it?" Brendon looked at her curiously and she shrugged.
"It was just some things that have been on my mind. Like how you always manage to get me to stay with you rather than doing things with my friends at school." Before Brendon could even open his mouth, Katelyn told him that it wasn't a bad thing. She also said that she had been thinking about his friendship with Ryan.
"You shouldn't be worrying about me and Ry. We'll figure something out." It seemed to Katelyn that he wasn't even sure where his friendship was going, but she chose to let it be.
"I can't help it. I've seen how this has stressed you out. I constantly have to soothe you after you come home from a recording session. Not that I mind, because I really don't, but you guys need to all sit down and figure out what's going on with the band."
"If I promise to talk to Ryan, will you come to bed?" Brendon looked at Katelyn through tired eyes, sighing because he hadn't grabbed his glasses off the night stand. His vision was blurred and he just wanted to go back to bed. The girl nodded, getting up and taking Brendon's hand, leading him inside so they could do just that.

Katelyn's graduation was on June 11th, and all four of the guys were in attendance, as well as Helen. Of course, Brendon hadn't sat down with Ryan and discussed their future, but Katelyn wasn't surprised. There was some tension between the group of men at the actual ceremony, but after she had received her diploma and the thing was over, they were all focused on making it her day.
Each of the four had different bouquets of flowers and bombarded her when she finally found them. Helen was acting like the paparazzi, her camera flashing every few seconds to get everything on record.
"Thanks for coming, you guys." Katelyn tried to hold her flowers and diploma while unzipping her gown to reveal her floral print dress for the photos. They all told her that she was welcome, saying that they wouldn't have missed it for the world.
"What are these for?" Ryan's long, alabaster fingers touched the long, knotted maroon and gold tassels that hung around her neck, eyeing them curiously.
"Oh! Freshman year I was inducted into an academic honor society, Tau Sigma." Katelyn's cheeks flushed as Jon called her a nerd, which made the rest of the guys laugh.
"I thought you didn't want to go Greek?" Brendon's curiosity made Spencer raise an eyebrow as he wondered how Brendon didn't know about this.
"Technically, I didn't rush a sorority. They sent me a letter and I paid a one time, minimal fee and I was in the society. It looks sick on a resume." The girl smiled, trying to figure out why he never questioned her Tau Sigma shirt whenever she wore it around the apartment.
"Okay, stop chit-chatting you five! Stand still and smile!" Helen ordered them as if they were still kids. She had done the exact same thing at Katelyn's high school graduation, so the only one that was surprised was Jon, whom Helen had been eyeing the entire time.

After the ceremony, Spencer and Ryan said they were going to grab lunch, while Jon said he wanted to go get some things from Downtown Disney, and Helen wanted to take Katelyn and Brendon out for lunch.
The girl had briefly spoken to a few of her friends at graduation, even introducing Brendon to the ones that hadn't met him. They were all amazed at the sight of the musician and had no idea what to say to him, so it was slightly awkward. Katelyn had avoided Christina, but sought out Jess and Elaine in order to congratulate them and wish them the best in their endeavors.
"Come one, sweetie. I'm starving!" Helen urged the girl toward the parking lot and to her car, where the three piled in and went to lunch.

During their meal, Brendon got a text that made him turn white. Helen was engrossed in the restaurant, critiquing anything and everything about it. That's what happened when she worked in a restaurant for the majority of her life. She loathed eating out. Helen had also inquired about Jon, wondering if he would be up for dating a cougar. Katelyn groaned at the thought, but Brendon wasn't even paying attention. Katelyn looked at him nervously, nudging his side and asking what was up.
Brendon quickly shook his head, shoving his phone back into his pocket and staring down at his hands.
"Hey, is everything alright? You don't look so hot." Katelyn set her hand on his cheek, smiling at the feeling of his stubble. They had been in a rush to get to graduation so he didn't have time to shave. She liked the rough feeling against her fingers though, so she didn't mind one bit.
"I don't know. I need to step out for a minute and make a couple of calls." Brendon sighed and Katelyn kissed his cheek, telling him to go ahead.

Brendon was on the phone for nearly twenty minutes, returning with a sullen expression on his face and it looked as if he had been crying, even if he had only shed a few tears. When he sat beside the girl, she merely took his hand gently and kissed his knuckles before continuing the conversation with her mother. She knew by now that if he wanted to talk, he would do it in his own time and Katelyn was just fine with that. It was much better than forcing it out of him before he was comfortable. She only hoped that he would open up sooner rather than later, because whatever was going on was obviously devastating news to him.